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Administrator failed to take action against the head of a village militia group for removing street signs﻿

September 19, 2019

HURFOM: Villagers of Kwan Hlar village, in Mudon Township, Mon State have filed a complaint against 3 people including the head of a village militia group. The villagers claim these individuals wrongfully removed 8 street signs on January 27, 2019, and that the village Administrator had failed to take any action.

The street signs were installed in the second week of
January, 2019 at the direction of the
Ward Administrator and a Kwan Hlar village committee. Then removed within a
week. Despite complaints from the
villagers, no action was taken for the sign removal. On September 16th 2019 the villagers
organized a protest directed at the Kwan Hlar Administrator for a failure to take
prompt action against those who removed
the street signs installed in January.

“The signs were kept in the administrator’s office after
their removal. The administrator claimed the case will be solved within 3 days
after [an] investigation. It has been months [and] the perpetrators [have] not

[been]

punished. About 150 villagers signed a complaint letter to the Mon State
government and 8 particular government departments on February 26, 2019,” stated Daw Than Than Htay, who led
the protest.

The Deputy Chief Officer of Mudon Township General
Administration Department (GAD) arranged a meeting to discuss the initial
complaints, with the local residents on March 11, 2019. It was understood at
that time, that the case would be submitted to the authority of the Mawlamyine
District.

One month after the March meeting, the Deputy Chief Officer
of Mudon Township GAD indicated the street signs would be reinstalled following
a discussion with the village committee.

“Just restoring the signs back haven’t made us satisfied,” said a resident of Phaung Kalatt
Ward of Kwan Hlar village. Local residents
feel that those who removed the street signs in the first place, should be
punished in accordance with the laws, and that
the village Administrator is also at fault for failing to take prompt
action.

Paung Hluttaw lawmaker Mi Kon Chan, raised this issue in the
Phyi Thu Hluttaw on September 11, 2019.
She asked, Why militia groups
were formed in the village and which department is responsible to address their
actions?

The Deputy Minister of Ministry of Defense, General Myint Nwe
explained that the military are managed by a separate legal system but because
village militia are not soldiers (from the Tatmadaw), their actions must be
dealt with by civil courts.

In addition to militia groups, there are many small splinter
groups which have surrendered to local battalions. It has been reported
that some of these splinter groups are
involved with the drug trade, arms trafficking and some groups have been
threatening local people to give up their land (land grabbing).

According to the Deputy Defense
Minister, local military battalions have formed their own militia groups in
regions they control. There are
estimated to be over 6,000 such militia
groups across the country and each group could have anywhere from 20 to 60
members .